Past Event

Steamboat Springs  For a band that's been together for about 2 1/2 years, playing as many live shows as possible is crucial to survival.

But playing a dozen shows a month in towns across the West can have a catch: at some point, something is bound to go wrong. And when that happens, the best you can hope for is a good memory.

"I don't think we have too many that didn't end up working out, actually - which is why we're still doing it, I think," said former Steamboat Springs resident Holden Young, whose band, Holden Young Trio, kicks off a summer tour with a show Thursday at Old Town Pub.

"We've blown a lot of tires, lost a lot of pieces, favorite family heirlooms - everything that you'd want to hold onto on the road, we've lost. But we always come back in one piece," he said.

Young, with help from bandmates Billy Franklin and Eric Rolls, shared a few of his favorite stories from the road and Steamboat Springs.

Power chords

"For Fourth of July in 2006, we played up at these condos/townhomes on Old Fish Creek Falls all afternoon.

"After the fireworks, we continued until the cops were called. Immediately following the last song, around 10 p.m., we played the final chord, thanked everyone for hanging out, wished them a happy Fourth and finished the song. The power for all of Routt County went out the very next second.

"We still think of this as the time we blew up Steamboat."

Roadside assistance

"We were going to a gig in Clarkston, Wash. It was Friday afternoon at about 5:30, and we were in the most rural parts of Idaho, still about three hours out from where we needed to be.

"We busted two flat tires going up a mountain pass. They'd both worn down a bit, but at the same time they busted, both our back tires.

"So we ended up rolling down the hill where we'd just passed these two little towns, but they were just of the microscopic variety. And we went to a gas station where the doors were open and everything was on, but there was no one around. It seemed like there was a town party going on next door, and everyone kept saying the owner was 'around,' but we couldn't find the guy for the life of us.

"So we slowly roll back down the road three or four miles. At 5:45 on a Friday night in the middle of nowhere, we find a service station open, and the guy has two tries, used, that he'd just pulled off a truck that afternoon. He sold them to us for $20 apiece."

Odd finds, new friends

"About two years ago, we were playing a show at the Depot Art Center, and while we were setting up and kind of poking around in the back, we found this androgynous blow-up doll, who we named Frank Fred.

"The people at the Depot, they were like, 'I don't know where that came from, but you can have it.' So Frank Fred, who was born and raised in the Steamboat Art Depot, as far as we know, ended up coming with us on tour that summer.

"He eventually got a terminal leak and passed on. But before that happened, we were doing a radio interview in Fort Collins on KRFC, and we happened to mention it to the lady who was interviewing us, that we were carrying around this blow-up doll. And she was like, 'I have one, too!' And she ended up wanting to take pictures with it. : It ended up being one of those interviews that was almost too casual, but it was great."